


the tower we never built

by ruination_fangs



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (he's not a major character Here), Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Minor Character Death, Non-Binary Byleth, Other, Post-Timeskip, Silver Snow Route, Silver Snow spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruination_fangs/pseuds/ruination_fangs
Summary: After being injured at Gronder Field, Edelgard has too much time to think.





	the tower we never built

_well I never really thought that you'd come tonight_  
_ while the crown hangs heavy on either side_

The Black Eagles are no more.

Edelgard knew, even back then, that it wasn't the war but she herself who drove them away. Those who returned to their family's lands after the fall of Garreg Mach didn't speak to her before leaving again, and the others, off wandering the Kingdom or the Alliance, were impossible to find. She hoped desperately that Dorothea wasn't living on the streets again, and that Bernadetta was safe from her father, even while knowing such hopes served no purpose and would not be met with gratitude.

So she wasn't surprised that no one came to the reunion. The monastery was all but empty; though thieves made use of the place, and the knights and monks surely returned on occasion, it was occupied more by ghosts than anything else. Ghosts of the past, visible in the wreckage of walls, the cobwebs strung in every corner, the dusty house banners rippling with the wind.

The only thing that surprised her was Byleth. Even after years of hoping, dreading, knowing that the professor would return one day - she wasn't prepared. She wasn't prepared for the way her heart thundered in her chest when she heard their voice, for the gentleness in their eyes when they said they came for her. No one looks at her like that anymore. No one calls her Edelgard - these days it's only Your Majesty.

She wasn't surprised by their answer, either. Not by their hesitation, not by the same pitiful expression they wore when they chose the church over her the first time. She sensed it just as strongly then as she did five years before; that they're fighting an inner battle, that those feelings are there but something is holding them back. That damned church holds everyone back. But their silence spoke louder than any explanation could, and Edelgard let go of the last bit of hope she had been clinging to for so long.

As always, she steeled her heart and picked up her weapon.

  
* * *

  
Edelgard stares out her window for hours on end. It's peaceful in Enbarr; the skies are sunny and the weather is warming. The war is somewhere far off in the distance.

She grits her teeth at the silence. This is no place for the emperor of a country at war. If only it weren't for these damned wounds...

But Hubert was right - Hubert is always right, no matter how much Edelgard may dislike his counsel sometimes. To take to the field now would be to make herself an easy target. The enemy knows she is alive, and that is enough. Perhaps her injuries will bait them into launching their assault too early.

Oh, how she hates to be used.

Still, her body refuses to cooperate, and she's forced to listen to reports from the comfort and security of her own room in her own palace. No amount of resolution or resources can heal her body faster. All she can do is wait.

  
* * *

  
The sun wasn't yet up when the imperial army started to mobilize. In the thin pre-dawn light, the scouts were barely visible - both the Empire's and the enemy's. Edelgard watched the wyverns patrol the sky above the camp and waited ruefully for their report from the safety of her headquarters.

"Is the resistance army here?" she demanded when the messenger arrived. Hubert glanced at her wordlessly, and the scout shook her head.

So they didn't come. One army bore the flag of the Kingdom, and the other the Alliance, but there was no sign throughout the day of the crest of flames or the Knights of Seiros. Byleth wasn't there.

Edelgard put on her armor in the first light of sunrise and gave the order. If the Kingdom wanted another Battle of the Eagle and Lion, they would get it.

  
* * *

  
It's been weeks now; she does not have time for this. Though the Kingdom forces will need to lick their wounds, and the Alliance is in chaos with their leader missing, the resistance army is still unaccounted for. A new battle could break out at any moment.

Were they really not prepared for the battle at Gronder Field? Or were they waiting?

Edelgard doesn't think it sounds much like the Knights of Seiros to bide their time and let the enemy weaken itself before swooping in. But they are not the Knights of Seiros anymore; they are the resistance army, bearing Byleth's crest and led by Byleth's orders. And Byleth's orders are flawless.

For the first time, Edelgard is afraid of what she's up against.

  
* * *

  
She barely won against Dimitri.

They had always been well-matched. As children playing with simple practice weapons, as teenagers sparring at the academy. Both of them were brought up with the best training their supervisors could give them, and both of them had real battle experience. A true one-on-one fight could go either way.

The fight was hardly one-on-one, however, and her opponent was hardly Dimitri. He was more akin to a demonic beast in the skin of a human - his practiced motions jagged at the edges, his eyes half crazed from the moment he saw her. Dedue had been with him, and Gilbert, but Dimitri lost them both in his rush to pursue Edelgard, whose personal guard was rapidly dwindling to nothing in the face of his rampage.

His lance afforded him greater reach than her axe, and she spent much of the fight dodging, trying to get within range. One well-placed blow would do it - to the neck, to the chest, to the stomach. But Dimitri was too fast, too sharp. He swung his lance in perfect arcs to parry each of her attempted strikes and retaliate with one of his own.

In the end, his rage was his undoing. He was sloppy; he was willing to risk everything to kill her. Her only recourse was to meet him on equal terms.

The lance sliced into her side, and for a moment her vision went white, her body screaming in searing pain. She didn't let it stop her; blind but already certain of her next move, she swung her axe at the opening Dimitri left and felt it connect with armor, clothing, flesh. Dimitri staggered backwards, and when her vision returned she was greeted with the sight of blood pouring out of the slash across his chest.

He fell to his knees, lance dropping from his hand, eyes never leaving her face. It took everything Edelgard had to stay on her feet.

For the first time that day, the noises that came from his mouth sounded human, not the guttural growling of an animal. His voice rasped, quickly weakening, barely audible over the din of battle continuing around them:

"Burn... in the eternal flames... El."

Then he collapsed forward, regalia and hair staining red, and the field around them quieted.

But only for a moment; within seconds, cheers and wails erupted around Edelgard as several of the Kingdom knights turned to flee and the emboldened Empire soldiers chased after them. Edelgard touched her fingers to her side, and her whole hand came back stained dark red. Her head spun. The noise seemed to be increasing in volume. She could feel splotches of blood on her face, hot against her paling skin.

Dimitri's body remained motionless on the blood-slicked ground, and a half-conscious Edelgard let herself be escorted back to camp.

  
* * *

  
She's still in bed when she hears the report that the resistance army has mobilized. Hubert brings her the news himself, grim-faced but not surprised, and Edelgard stares blankly ahead as he speaks. Their spies have reported that the main forces of the army have left Garreg Mach, and seemingly split up. It's possible they have disbanded, but far more likely this is a new strategy and they're on their way to Enbarr.

Finally. Finally, the battle will be brought to her. This is the worst case scenario; with so many of the Empire's troops still holding its territories across Kingdom lands, defending Enbarr will be a challenge. If she and her generals fall here, the rest of their campaigns will all be for naught. This will be the end of one of them - her or Byleth, the Empire or the resistance.

Her goals are slipping farther and farther away, yet Edelgard still feels a thrill in her muscles, almost back to full strength and eager to be back on the frontlines. The one thing she can't stand is the _waiting_. Let them decide things, here and now, and be done with it. She never meant for the war to drag on this long. One way or the other, it has to end.

If she is going to lose - if she is going to die - let it be by her beloved professor's hands, and let that day come swiftly. They are the only one left worthy of taking her place.


End file.
